Chapter XLI: Appendix (5)

At St. Helena, the north end of the needle reaches its eastern extreme
in May, June, July, and August, and nearly at the same hours it
reaches its western extreme in November, December, January, and
February. The passage from one to the other takes place at, or soon
after, the equinoxes in March and April, September and October.—
Colonel Sabine’s Notes to “Kosmos.”

Footnote 153:

The sporules or seeds of the fungi are so minute that M. Freis counted
above ten millions in a single plant of the recticularia maxima: they
were so subtile that they were like smoke.

Footnote 154:

The solar spectrum, or coloured image of the sun, formed by passing a
sunbeam through a prism, is composed of a variety of invisible as well
as visible rays. The chemical rays are most abundant beyond the violet
end of the spectrum, and decrease through the violet, blue, and green,
to the yellow, where they cease. The rays of heat are in excess a
little beyond the red end, and gradually decrease towards the violet
end. Besides these there are two insulated spots at a considerable
distance from the red, where the heat is a maximum. Were the rays of
heat visible, they would exhibit differences as distinct as the
coloured rays, so varied are their properties according to their
position in the spectrum. There are also peculiar rays which produce
phosphorescence, others whose properties are not quite made out, and
probably many undiscovered influences; for time has not yet fully
revealed the sublimity of that creation, when God said, “Let there be
light—and there was light.”

Footnote 155:

Professor Quetelet is desirous that the periodical phenomena of
vegetation should be observed at a number of places, in order to
establish a comparison between the periods at which they take place;
and for that purpose he gives a list of the commonest plants, as
lilac, laburnum, elder, birch, oak, horse-chestnut, peach, pear,
crocus, daisy, &c., which he himself observes annually at Brussels.

Footnote 156:

Dandelion opens at five or six in the morning, and shuts at nine in
the evening; the goat’s-beard wakes at three in the morning, and shuts
at five or six in the afternoon. The orange-coloured Escholtzia is so
sensitive that it closes during the passage of a cloud. “The marigold
that goes to bed wi’ the sun, and with him rises weeping,” with many
more, are instances of the sleep of plants.

Footnote 157:

M. de Candolle established 20 botanical regions, and Professor Schow
the same number; but Professor Martius, of Munich, has divided the
vegetation of the globe into 51 provinces, namely, 5 in Europe, 11 in
Africa, 13 in Asia, 3 in New Holland, 4 in North and 8 in South
America, besides Central America, the Antillas, the Antarctic Lands,
New Zealand, Van Diemen’s Land, New Guinea, and Polynesia. To these,
other divisions might be added, as the Galapagos, which is so strongly
defined.

Baron Humboldt gives the following concise view of the distribution of
plants, both as to height and latitude:—

The equatorial zone is the region of palms and bananas.

The tropical zone is the region of tree-ferns and figs.

The subtropical zone, that of myrtles and laurels.

The warm temperate zone, that of evergreen trees.

The cold temperate zone, that of European or deciduous trees.

The subarctic zone, that of pines.

The arctic zone, that of rhododendrons.

The polar zone, that of alpine plants.

_Upper Limit of Trees on Mountains._—The upper limit of trees is
distinguished by the Escalloniæ, on the Andes of Quito, at the height
of 11,500 feet above the level of the sea.

In tropical Mexico, the upper limit of trees, at the height of 12,789
feet, is distinguished by the Pinus occidentalis.

In the temperate zone the limit of trees is marked by the Quercus
Semicarpifolia, at 11,500 feet, on the south side of the Himalaya, and
by the Betula Alba, on the north side, at the height of 14,000 feet:
the same birch forms the limit on the Caucasus, at the elevation of
6394 feet. On the Pyrenees and Alps the limit is marked by the
Coniferæ or pine tribe: on the Pyrenees by the Pinus uncinata, at the
height of 10,870 feet; on the south side of the Alps by the larch, at
the elevation of 6700 feet; and by the Pinus abies, at 5883 feet, on
the north.

In Lapland, the Betula Alba forms the upper limit of trees, at the
height of only 1918 feet.

_The upper Limit of Shrubs._—In the Andes of Quito the Bejarias are
the shrubs that attain the greatest height, and terminate at 13,420
feet above the sea-level.

The juniper, Salix, and Ribes, or currant tribe, form the upper limit
of Shrubs on the south side of the Himalaya, at the height of 11,500
feet. The tama, or Genista versicolor, a species of broom, flourishes
at the height of 17,000 feet on the north side, and vegetation is
prolonged to nearly 18,000 feet.

The Rhododendron forms the upper limit of shrubs on the Caucasus, at
8825 feet; in the Pyrenees it grows to 8312 feet; in the Alps to 7480
feet; and in Lapland it forms the upper limit of shrubs at an
elevation of 3000 above the Arctic Ocean.

Footnote 158:

The British flora contains at least 3000 species.

Footnote 159:

The plants with which the Chinese give flavour to tea are the Olea
fragrans, Chloranthus inconspicuus, Gardenia florida, Aglaia odorata,
Mogorium sambac, Vitex spicata, Camellia sasanqua, Camellia odorifera,
Illicium anisatum, Magnolia yulan, Rosa indica odoratissima, turmeric,
oil of Bixa orellana, and the root of the Florentine iris.

The principles of caffeine and theine are, in all respects, identical.

Footnote 160:

Davis on China.

Footnote 161:

Dr. Mantel.

Footnote 162:

Dr. J. D. Hooker.

Footnote 163:

The Euphorbia and Borreria are the distinguishing features of the low
grounds in the Galapagos islands; while the Scleria, croton, and
Cordia mark the high grounds. Compositæ and Campanulaceæ distinguish
St. Helena and Juan Fernandez. The prevailing plants in the Sandwich
group are the Goodeniaceæ and Lobeliaceæ; and in New Zealand ferns and
club-mosses prevail, almost to the exclusion of the grasses.—Dr. J. D.
Hooker.

Footnote 164:

Of 2891 species of flower-bearing plants in the United States of North
America, there are 385 found also in northern and temperate Europe.

Footnote 165:

In the basin of Titicaca in Peru-Bolivia, Mr. Pentland has seen a
variety of maize ripen as high as 12,800 feet.

Footnote 166:

Dr. Weddell, a very distinguished botanist, who has recently returned
from an exploration of the districts of the Andes which furnish the
Peruvian bark of commerce, has discovered several new species of
Cinchona, the total number of which, according to his beautiful
monography, now amounts to 21.

Footnote 167:

Professor Martius, of Munich, in his great work on Palms, has
described 500, accompanied with excellent coloured plates. It is
supposed that the number of species throughout the world amounts to
1000.

Footnote 168:

There are innumerable points of analogy between the vegetation of the
Brazils, equinoctial Africa, and India: but the number of species
common to these three continents is very small.

Footnote 169:

Dr. J. D. Hooker.

Footnote 170:

The cosmopolite ulvæ are the Enteromorpha, Codium, &c.

Footnote 171:

Dr. J. D. Hooker has divided the marine vegetation into ten
provinces:—the Northern Ocean, from the pole to the 60th parallel of
north latitude;—the North Atlantic, between the 60th and 40th
parallels, which is the province of the delessariæ and fucus proper;—
the Mediterranean, which is a sub-region of the warmer temperate zone
of the Atlantic, lying between the 40th and 23d northern parallels;—
the tropical Atlantic, in which sargassum, rhodomelia, corallinia, and
siphinea abound;—the antarctic American region, from Chile to Cape
Horn, the Falkland Islands, and the whole circumpolar ocean south of
the 50th southern parallel;—the Australian and New Zealand province,
which is very peculiar, being characterized, among other generic
forms, by cystoseiriæ and fuceæ;—the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea;—and
the last, which comprises the Japan and China Seas. There are several
undetermined botanical marine provinces in the Pacific and elsewhere.

Footnote 172:

The British flowering sea-weeds are the Zostera and Zanichellia.

Footnote 173:

The vegetation at different depths in the Egean Sea is as distinctly
marked as that at different heights on the declivity of a mountain.
The coast plants are the Padina pavonia and Dictyota dichotoma. A
greater depth is characterized by the vividly green and elegant fronds
of the Caulerpa prolifera, probably the prasium of the ancients;
associated with it are the curious sponge-like Codium Bursa, and four
or five others. The Codium flabelliforme, and the rare and curious
vegetable net called Microdictyon umbilicatum, characterize depths of
30 fathoms. The Dictyomenia, with stiff purple corkscrew-like fronds,
and some others, go as low as 50 fathoms, beyond which no flexible
sea-weeds have been found. The coral-like Millepora polymorpha take
their place, and range to the depth of 100 fathoms, beyond which there
is no trace of vegetable life, unless some of the minute and
microscopic infusorial bodies living there be regarded as plants.—
“Travels in Lycia,” by Lieutenant Spratt, R. N., and Professor E.
Forbes.

Footnote 174:

The notocanthus and macrourus are the deep-water fish in the arctic
regions; they also inhabit the seas of New Zealand. The Pacific fish
that enter the Atlantic are some of the mackerel tribe, sharks, and
lophobranches. The genera most prevalent in the southern hemisphere
are the notothemia, borichthys, and harpagifer. The same species of
these genera are found in the seas of the Falkland Islands, Cape Horn,
the Auckland Islands, and Kerguelen’s Land.—Dr. Richardson.

Footnote 175:

The Chinese fresh-water fish are cyprinidæ, ophicephali, and siluridæ—
genera which agree closely with those in India, though the species are
different.

Footnote 176:

The carnivorous Cetacea, with two remarkable exceptions, inhabit the
ocean—the Delphinus Inca, of the Amazons and its affluents; and the D.
Gangeticus, of the Ganges.

Footnote 177:

Captain Scoresby’s “Arctic Voyages.”

Footnote 178:

One of the most celebrated species of this division is the crocodile
of the Nile, which probably is to be met with in the western branch of
that river, the Bahr-el-Abiad, as high as 4000 feet. Immense numbers
of this species, of every size and age, are found embalmed in the
catacombs of the ancient Egyptians, which are perfectly identical with
the existing species, and offering another proof of the important fact
first announced by Cuvier, from his examination of the mummies of the
ibis, that no animal, in its wild state, had presented the least
change, within the longest historical periods.

Footnote 179:

Mr. Pentland informs me that crocodiles are found in some of the
rivers of Bolivia at a much greater elevation.

Footnote 180:

Animals of a gigantic size, and allied to the lizard family, formerly
inhabited the latitudes of Britain. A monster (the Mosasaurus) much
surpassing the largest living crocodile is found in our Sussex
chalk-beds; and an animal allied to the Iguana, the iguanodon of
Mantell, is of frequent occurrence in the strata upon which the chalk
reposes in the weald of Sussex, the Isle of Wight, &c. Some bones of
the iguanodon would indicate an animal more than 50 feet long.

Footnote 181:

Petrel, from St. Peter.

Footnote 182:

In some parts of the earth the same conditions which regulated the
distribution of the ancient fauna and flora still prevail. The flora
of the carbonaceous epoch is perfectly similar to that of New Zealand,
where ferns and club-mosses are so abundant; and the fauna of that
ancient period had been representative of that which recently
prevailed in these islands, since foot-prints of colossal birds have
been discovered in the red sandstone of Connecticut.

The age of reptiles of the Wealden and other secondary periods is
representative of the fauna of the Galapagos islands, which chiefly
consists of tortoises and creatures of the lizard or crocodile family;
and the cycadaceous plants and marsupial animals of the oolite are
representative of the flora and fauna of Australia.

The colossal birds which prevailed in New Zealand, almost to the
entire exclusion of reptiles and quadrupeds, lasted to a very late
period; they differed in the structure of the beak and skull from
every class of birds, recent or fossil.

Footnote 183:

Perhaps no quadruped in the wild state will be found to have so wide a
vertical range of habitat as this animal. It is found in the plains of
Tartary, in the valley of the Tigris, at a very few feet above the
sea-level, and in the most elevated plains of the Himalaya, at
elevations exceeding 15,300 feet.

Footnote 184:

It is by no means certain that the wild Ass of the three countries
mentioned in the text belongs to the same species. The Kiang of Tibet
appears to be the same as the Dziggetai (Equus Hemonus) of Pallas,
which is met with throughout central Asia; but the species found in
the Run of Cutch is of a different colour and form: whilst the one
neighs like a horse, the other brays like an ass; in one the striped
colour of the zebra family exists in the young, and not in the second.

Footnote 185:

The attention of the scientific world in France has been recently
directed to the advantages that might arise from the naturalization of
the Llama tribe in Europe, and especially of its two most useful
species, the Llama and the Alpaca. M. J. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, a
zoologist of some note, but rather carried away by theoretical views
in a branch of science where observation, and observation alone, ought
to be our guide, and ignorant perhaps of what had been done in England
on the same subject, where the experiment had long since been tried,
and with very inadequate success, has presented lately some papers to
the Academy of Sciences on this subject. We cannot imagine, even if
the naturalization of the Llama on a large scale was possible, what
benefit could arise from it to our agriculturists. The wool of the
llama is coarse, and so infinitely inferior to the commonest qualities
of sheep’s wool, that in its native country it is seldom used for any
other purpose than the manufacture of ropes, of a rough carpeting and
packing-cloth, and for the coarsest apparel of the poor Indian. As to
its use as a beast of burden, whilst the llama eats as much as the
ass, it does not carry more than one half what he can, and can
scarcely travel one half of the same daily distance; besides, the
female llama is useless in this respect. The flesh of the llama, as
above stated, is greatly below that of all our domestic animals, even
of the Italian buffalo.

As to the Alpaca, it is very doubtful if, living as it does in an
extremely dry, elevated, equable, and clear atmosphere, it would ever
become accustomed to the damp and variable climate of our northern
latitudes, or to that of the great European chains of mountains, the
Alps and the Pyrenees, and if it did, that its wool would not be
greatly deteriorated. As to the vicuña, it is purely a wild species,
and has hitherto resisted all the efforts of the aborigines, the most
patient and docile of the human race, to render it prolific in its own
climate and in domesticity.

It appears, therefore, that the domestication of the several species
of Auchenia in Europe would be a costly and useless experiment, on the
large scale on which it is proposed to try it; indeed, this will
appear evident when it is known that in the Peru-Bolivian Andes the
llama and alpaca are daily disappearing to make room for the more
useful and profitable breed of the common European sheep, whilst, as a
beast of burden, the ass is everywhere taking its place.

Connected with this subject, a very singular fact, and, if well
established, a very curious one, has been announced by M. Geoffroy St.
Hilaire, on the authority of one of our countrymen, Dr. Weddel,
recently returned from South America, that a cross-breed between the
Alpaca and the Vicuña had been obtained, and that the mules from this
cross-breed were capable of reproducing this newly-created species,
the wool of which is represented to be of a valuable quality. Now, if
there exists in zoological science a fact clearly established, it is
this: that within historical periods no new species of vertebrate
animal has been created—in fact, the great law of the immutability of
species. The remains of the several wild animals which have been
buried for more than 30 centuries in the catacombs of Egypt, and in
the ruins of Nineveh, are perfectly identical with those now existing
in the most minute details of their anatomical structure. We have
examined, in the case referred to, the evidence adduced by M. Geoffroy
St. Hilaire in support of his favourite doctrine, and we do not by any
means consider it sufficient to shake the conclusions arrived at by
all the great zoologists of past and present times—by the Cuviers, the
Humboldts, and the Owens of our own period—on the impossibility of the
production of a new species of animals, or the immutability of species
in the animal creation. Contradictions to this law we know have been
brought forward by writers of the theoretical school of naturalists,
to support favourite theories of their authors; but we believe such
dangerous doctrines are founded on the vagaries of a school which have
ever placed in natural history observation in the back, and the dreams
of imagination in the foreground.

Footnote 186:

There are 8 families, 14 genera, and 123 species of marsupial animals,
amounting to about one-twelfth of all the mammalia. The opossum is
American; the seven other families are inhabitants of Australia and
the Indian Archipelago.

Of the Didelphidæ or opossum family there are 21 species, all
inhabitants of America; the Virginian opossum is about the size of a
cat, the other species are not larger than rats or mice. A pretty kind
in Surinam, the D. dorsigera, is so named because it carries its young
on its back, which hold on by their prehensile tails twisted round
that of the mother: another species is aquatic, and in its habits
resembles the otter.

The Dasyuridæ and Phalangers are nocturnal: the Dasyuridæ and wombats
burrow.

Footnote 187:

Sir Charles Lyell estimates the number of existing species of animals
and vegetables, independent of the infusoria, to be between one and
two millions, which must surely be under the mark, considering the
enormous quantity of animal life in the ocean, to the amount of which
we have not even an approximation. If the microscopic and infusorial
existence be taken into the account, the surface of the globe may be
viewed as one mass of animal life—perpetually dying—perpetually
renewed. A drop of stagnant water is a world within itself, an epitome
of the earth and its successive geological races. A variety of
microscopic creatures appear, and die; in a few days a new set
succeeds; these vanish and give place to a third set, of different
kinds from the preceding; and the débris of all remain at the bottom
of the glass. The extinction of these creatures takes place without
any apparent cause, unless a greater degree of putrescence of the
water be to them what the mighty geological catastrophes were to
beings of higher organization—the introduction of the new is not more
mysterious in one case than in the other.

Footnote 188:

Valmiki, the Hindu poet, is supposed to have been contemporary with
Homer, if not his predecessor: his great work is the “Ramayana,” an
heroic poem of the highest order, four cantos of which have been
translated by Gaspare Gorresco, an Italian. According to Dr.
Pritchard, the four great dynasties of languages in the old continent
are—the Indo-European or Indo-Germanic, now called the Arian or
Iranian languages; the Turanian or Ugro-Tartarian, the language of
high Asia; the Chinese and Indo-Chinese, or Monosyllabic; and the
Syro-Arabian or Semitic languages. The three first are common to
Europe and Asia; the fourth, common to Africa and some parts of Asia
near Africa. The Arians are the ancient Medes and Persian; the Ugrians
are the Fins, Laplanders, Hungarians, and many Siberian nations.

Footnote 189:

EUROPEAN POPULATION.

_Pure blood._

Teutonic 52,000,000 Sclavonian 50,000,000 Celtic 12,000,000 Magyar 9,000,000 Fins and Samojedes 3,000,000 Tartar 2,000,000 Jews 2,000,000 ----------- Total European population of pure blood 130,000,000

_Mixed blood in Europe._

Teutonic Celtic 22,000,000 Teutonic Sclavonian 6,000,000 Teutonic mixed with Walloons in Belgium 1,200,000 Teutonic Northmen in Normandy 1,500,000 Celtic in its different crosses 56,000,000 Sclavonian 6,000,000 Lettons 2,000,000 Turks 4,000,000 Turco-Tatar-Sclavonic in centre, south-east, and east of Russia 2,600,000 Kalmuk, between the rivers Volga and Ural 300,000 ----------- The number of people of mixed blood in Europe 101,600,000

The total population of Europe, pure and mixed, amounts to about 232
millions, including 600,000 Gipsies. The Teutonic population in the
United States of North America and in the British colonies amounts to
20 millions; so that the total number of people of Teutonic blood is
rather more than 100 millions.—Notes accompanying the Ethnographic Map
of Europe, by Dr. Gustaf Kombst: “Phys. Atlas.”

Footnote 190:

POPULATION OR GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

_On an average the pure-blooded population amounts to_

Teutonic in England, Scotland, and in the east and
north-east of Ireland 10,000,000
Celtic in Cornwall, Wales, the Scottish Highlands,
and Ireland. 6,000,000
----------
The pure-blooded inhabitants amounts to 16,000,000

_Mixed blood._

Mixture in which the Teutonic blood predominates 6,000,000
Mixture in which the Celtic blood predominates 4,000,000
----------
10,000,000

In all 26,000,000 of inhabitants.

Notes accompanying the Ethnographic Map of Great Britain and Ireland,
by Gustaf Kombst: “Phys. Atlas.”

The fear that Britain may be ruined by over population may be allayed
by considering that we are ignorant of the immense treasures and
inexhaustible resources of the natural world—that the ingenuity of man
is infinite, and will continually discover new powers and innumerable
combinations that will furnish sources of wealth and happiness to
millions.

Footnote 191:

From the discrepancies in the chronological systems it is evident that
the actual period of man’s creation is not accurately known. The
Chevalier Bunsen has ascertained, from monumental inscriptions, that
the successive Egyptian dynasties may be traced back to Meres, 3640
years before the Christian era, and from the high state of
civilization during the reign of that prince, proved by the
magnificence of the works thus executed, he infers that the Egyptians
must have existed 500 years previous to their consolidation into one
empire by him, which goes back to the renewed period of man’s
creation. Compared with geological periods, man is of very recent
creation, as appears from the vast extent of uninhabited land, but
which would require ages and ages to people, even if the increase of
population were as rapid as in the United States of North America.

Footnote 192:

Dark-coloured substances absorb more of the sun’s heat than
light-coloured ones; therefore, the black skins of the natives of
tropical climates absorb more heat than fair skins, but, from some
unknown cause, the black skin is protected from a degree of heat that
would blister a fair one.

Footnote 193:

The countenances of the Fuegians brought to England in 1830 by Captain
Fitzroy improved greatly in expression by their intercourse with
civilized men, but they had not returned to their savage brethren more
than a year before their whole appearance was completely changed; the
look of intelligence they had acquired was gone; and when compared
with likenesses that had been taken of them when in England, they were
not to be recognized as the same persons.

Footnote 194:

Johnston’s “Physical Atlas.”

The average age of a nation, or the mean duration of life, has a
considerable influence on the character of a people. The average age
of the population of England and Wales is 26 years 7 months. By the
census, the average age of the population of the United States of
North America is 22 years 2 months. In England there are 1365 persons
in every 10,000, who have attained 50 years of age, and consequently
of experience; while, in the United States, only 830 in each 10,000
have arrived at that age: hence, in the United States, the moral
predominance of the young and passionate is greatest. In Ireland there
are 1050 persons in every 10,000 of the population, above 50 years of
age, to exercise the influence of their age and experience upon the
community—an influence that will diminish with the progress of
emancipation.

Footnote 195:

It is singular that the British should, for years, have possessed such
extensive territories in Asia without having explored their mineral
wealth. Perhaps the quantity of gold recently discovered in California
and Africa may call the attention of the East India Company to the
subject. Some of the richest mining districts are in countries where
primary formations have been crossed or disturbed by volcanic action;
and as that is eminently the case along the eastern coast of the Bay
of Bengal, from Aracan to the peninsula of Malacca, mines of the
precious metals will most likely be found on that frontier, possibly
in Siam and the Birman empire. The interior of the Deccan has also
been greatly disturbed by ancient volcanos; and as that country is
said to bear a strong analogy in structure to South Africa, it may
also resemble it in the production of gold. The auriferous territory
in California appears to be at least 400 miles long and 100 broad.

Footnote 196:

In bringing to a close a work which may in some measure be considered
a kind of Résumé of Natural knowledge, it may not be either out of
place or irrelevant to our subject to allude more particularly to the
encouragement of late years granted to scientific investigation by our
own Government.

It must be confessed that Great Britain for a long time remained
behind the nations of the continent in fostering scientific enterprise
and research; and if England has rivalled in most branches of natural
knowledge, and surpassed in some, every other people, it has arisen
more from individual exertion, and that spirit of association which
forms so happy a characteristic of our race, and which has in our
political institutions so mainly contributed to our national greatness
and prosperity, than from any direct encouragement from our rulers.
Whilst France and other continental nations were endowing the votaries
of science, were lavishing money on scientific expeditions, and
founding institutions which will hand down the names of their
sovereigns to posterity as the benefactors of mankind, England had
done little in the same track beyond fitting out those memorable
expeditions of Cook, and, subsequently, those of Vancouver and
Flinders, and the support granted to our great national Observatory,
which, under the direction of Bradley, Maskelyne, Pond, and Airy, has
attained a degree of celebrity and utility unequalled by any
astronomical foundation in ancient or modern times.

The conclusion of a long war, in opening the scientific repositories
of the continent to our countrymen, showed us how much our great
institutions, with the above solitary exception, were behindhand, not
only in extent and utility, but in the liberality with which they were
conducted. Possessing as we did the most ample means, from our immense
colonial possessions and our widely-extended commerce, to add to the
stock of our knowledge in natural history, our collections were
infinitely behind those of the great states of the continent, and
scarcely on a par with those of the sovereigns of a second and even
third rate importance. A better system was loudly called for, and a
better system has been adopted. Our great national collection of the
British Museum—and I here refer more particularly to its scientific
and antiquarian department, for there is still much room for
improvement in the literary—has in a few years, thanks to the
liberality of Parliament and the exertions of its trustees and
officers, become equal in every respect, and superior in many, to any
similar institution on the continent. Two establishments have been
created within the last dozen of years which reflect the greatest
honour on the statesmen, Sir F. Baring, then Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and the late Earl of Besborough, as chief Commissioner of
the Woods and Forests, who fostered them in their infancy, and on the
talented individuals who had been selected to carry out the
enlightened views of the Government—the Museum of Practical Geology, a
designation that conveys a very inadequate idea of the extent of its
attributes or of its utility, and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. To
the first the public is already indebted for such a geological survey
and map of the empire as never had been planned or executed in any
other country—only a small instalment, however, of great services
which the nation and geological science are likely to derive from the
labours of Sir H. Delabeche and his collaborators. The Royal Gardens
at Kew, under the direction of Sir W. J. Hooker, lose nothing when
compared with the most celebrated establishments of the kind, ancient
or modern: never was public money better bestowed, or in a way to
convey more useful instruction and gratification to the great mass of
the community. Whilst every German university had its Museum of
Comparative Anatomy, when the government of revolutionary France had
placed at the disposal of Cuvier ample means to lay the basis of that
science of which he was to be considered the founder, an eminent
surgeon, John Hunter, animated by the love of science alone, and
unaided by his Government, was rendering a similar service to Great
Britain, in laying the foundation of that Museum which so justly bears
his honoured name. Thanks to the liberality of the Government, and to
the well-judged appreciation of the Royal College of Surgeons, the
Hunterian Collection has become the property of the nation, and has
received such additions and ameliorations as not to be behind any of
those of the continent; whilst in point of arrangement, facilities
granted for study, and real practical utility, it infinitely surpasses
them all. To it we principally are indebted for the introduction of
the study of comparative anatomy into this country, and for the
possession of one of its greatest modern expositors, Professor Owen.

It may appear invidious, at a time when every department of our
Government is showing itself so desirous of promoting the cause of
science, to point to any in particular: still we cannot refrain from
making special mention of one to which science in general, and more
particularly that branch of it which forms the principal object of
this work, and our best national interests, owe a deep and lasting
debt of gratitude—the Hydrographic department of the Admiralty; which,
under its present able chief, Sir Francis Beaufort, has attained a
degree of eminence unequalled by that of any other maritime country.
The Admiralty has profited of a long peace to extend our knowledge
over almost every region of the globe, conferring thereby an immense
service on geographical science, and placing in the hands of our
national and commercial marine a collection of charts and nautical
instructions unparalleled in the history of navigation for their
extent and exactitude. Another branch of inquiry, closely connected
with Hydrography and Navigation, which it required the encouragement
of a government to institute, the investigation of the laws of
terrestrial magnetism and meteorology, has been very liberally
provided for by Parliament, and most ably carried out, under the
direction of Colonel Sabine, by the establishment of special
observatories in our widely extended colonies, and by the publication
and distribution of their results.

The several maritime expeditions undertaken since the peace in a
purely scientific view reflect the highest credit on the departments
of the Government with which they have originated, as they do on the
eminent individuals, many of whom still live to enjoy their
well-merited fame, who have carried out their country’s wishes. The
names of Parry, Franklin, Back, James C. Ross, and Richardson, will be
preserved in the memory of posterity long after the ephemeral glory of
their professional career will have been forgotten.

Although it is to the projectors of such an altered state of things,
and to the statesmen who encouraged and brought it about, that our
first acknowledgement is due, our thanks must be also expressed to
that branch of the legislature which, holding, as it rightly does, the
public purse, has so liberally come forward upon every occasion, when
solicited, in granting the means to promote scientific enterprise. The
votary of science therefore owes to the House of Commons the
expression of his unmingled gratitude.

But, in paying that just tribute to the ministers of the Crown and to
Parliament, we must not pass over in silence the encouragement which
science has in every department met with from the East India Company.
Lords of an immense territory, the Court of Directors, and its
representatives in India, have always shown themselves ready to
contribute in a most liberal spirit to the extension of our knowledge
of their widely extended empire. The trigonometrical surveys of India,
the establishment of observatories, the endowment of colleges and of
scientific societies, the formation of collections of natural history
at great expense, and which it distributes to all those who are likely
to make good use of them, the publication of works on physical
researches, on natural history, of astronomical observations, bestowed
with so liberal a hand to men of science, the formation of such a map
of its extended dominions and of charts of its coasts as would do
honour to any government, must place the East India Company in the
first rank of those mighty potentates of the earth to whom science
will both now and in after ages feel placed under the most lasting
obligations.

Connected with our Oriental empire, it is due to some of the native
sovereigns of India to state that they have not been behindhand in
imitating the liberal example of their powerful protectors. Two native
princes, the Rajah of Travancore and the King of Oude, have at very
great expense established astronomical observatories in their
territories, furnished with European instruments of the most delicate
construction, and placed under the direction of European officers
amply endowed and provided for. The peninsula of India at the present
moment possesses four astronomical observatories little behind those
of Europe as regards the means of observation; until very lately there
did not exist one public observatory in the whole extent of the United
States of America.

[A national observatory was established at Washington in the year
1843.]

Footnote 197:

Sir John Rennie.

Footnote 198:

Charles Babbage, Esq.

Footnote 199:

We learn, on closing the present volume, that this distinguished
traveller, through the liberality of Her Majesty’s Government, is
again about to proceed to the former field of his exertions.

Footnote 200:

The works of Cornelius and Kaulbach bear testimony to the justice of
the observations in the text. In drawing, nothing can be more
beautiful—in composition, nothing can be more varied or sublime. The
“Destruction of Jerusalem,” by Kaulbach, in which a powerful genius
has combined the truth of the historian with the imagination of the
poet, and executed with the hand of a master, might bear comparison
even with the Italian school for colouring.

Footnote 201:

Twenty of these counties were in England and 11 in Wales, and so few
crimes took place among educated women in the other counties during
the 11 years mentioned, that the annual proportion of accusations
against educated females was only 1 in 1,349,059. During the year 1846
only 48 educated persons were convicted of crimes out of the whole
population of England and Wales, and none were sentenced to death. And
during the years 1845 and 1846 there were 15 counties in England and
11 in Wales in which no well-educated person was convicted of any
crime. The number of accusations among educated persons in Scotland is
greater, because education is more general, and because the quantity
of ardent spirits used in Scotland is five times greater than in
England. Crime is very much below the average in the mining districts,
and it is still less frequent in Wales and in the mountainous country
in the North of England. The accomplishments of a _well_-educated
person in these statistical records consist merely in being able to
read and write fluently.—“London Statistical Journal.”

Footnote 202:

Every factory-child is limited to 48 hours of labour in the week, and
the children must by law attend school at least two hours a-day for
six days out of the seven, besides a Sunday-school—one penny being
deducted out of each shilling of wages for education. The inspectors
have the power of establishing schools where wanted, and of dismissing
incompetent teachers. The engagement of factory-children in Britain
lasts till they are 13, in the United States it ends at 15 years of
age.—“Statistical Journal.”

Footnote 203:

The average duration of the life of sovereigns is greater in modern
than in ancient times, but it is still lower than any other class of
mankind. The most favourable average for them is 70·05 years; for the
English aristocracy it is 71·69; for the English gentry, 74·00; for
the learned professions, 73·62; for English literary and scientific
men it is 72·10; for the army and navy, 71·99; and for the professions
of the fine arts, 71·15.—“London Statistical Journal.”

Footnote 204:

There are 62 Ragged Schools in London, and Government undertakes to
send annually to the colonies 150 of such of the scholars as choose to
go.—“London Statistical Journal.”

Footnote 205:

The letters affixed indicate the parts of the Alps to which each
locality belongs—M., Maritime; C., Cottian; G., Grecian; P., Pennine;
L., Lepontine; B., Bernese, or Helvetian; R., Rhetian; J., Julian;
Car., Carniac.

Footnote 206:

The authorities on which these heights are given are—the Piedmontese
Surveys (P. S.), as published in 1845, in the Work entitled “Le Alpi
che cingono l’Italia,” 1 vol. 8vo.; the Austrian Survey (A. S.), as
given in the splendid Maps, published by the Austrian Government, of
the Regno Lombardo-Veneto, in 84 sheets; and the Swiss Trigonometrical
Survey, by Eichman, 1 vol. 4to., 1846.

Footnote 207:

The first eight passes are only fit for foot-passengers, and in
certain seasons for mules; the remaining eleven offer carriage-roads,
and are generally open at all seasons of the year, with the exception
of the Stelvio.

Footnote 208:

Heights taken from the list published in the French “Annuaire du
Bureau des Longitudes,” converted from metres into English feet.

Footnote 209:

Heights determined by the French expedition under Captains Peytier and
Boblaye, and published in the “Connaissance des Temps” for 1839.

Footnote 210:

The heights in the Sikim Himalaya are the results of the observations
of Colonel Waugh, Director of the Trigonometrical Survey of India.
_See_ “Journal of As. Soc. of Bengal,” Nov. 1848.

Footnote 211:

For Lieut. Strachey’s observations during his very interesting journey
to the Sacred Lakes of Manasarowar, &c., _see_ “Journal of As. Soc. of
Bengal,” Aug. 1848.

Footnote 212:

_See_ Hooker’s “Journal of Botany,” May, 1849.

Footnote 213:

The heights followed by the letters A. C. have been taken from
Humboldt’s “Asie Centrale.”

Footnote 214:

The heights given on Captain Vidal’s authority are taken from the
elaborate Admiralty Surveys of Madeira, the Canaries, and Azores,
partly executed under his direction; the latter not yet published.

Footnote 215:

The heights given in this table on Mr. Pentland’s authority have been
taken from his Map of “The Laguna of Titicaca, and of the Valleys of
Yucay, Collao, and Desaguadero,” published in 1848.

Footnote 216:

As stated in the text, vol. i., p. 155. The height here assigned to
the Peak of Aconcagua differs 700 feet from that given by Captain
Fitzroy. A re-calculation, however, of his elements has led us to
adopt a much greater elevation for the giant of the Chilian Andes than
given by that talented officer.

Captain Fitzroy’s observations place the summit of the Peak of
Aconcagua, which on his chart is incorrectly designated as a volcano,
in lat. 32° 38ʹ 30ʺ, long. 70° 00ʹ 30ʺ W., or 23ʹ 23ʺ N., and 100ʹ 45ʺ
E. of Valparaiso, or its nearest distance about 88 9-10 geographical
miles. From a station near Captain Fitzroy’s, at Valparaiso, Captain
Beechy found the angle of elevation of Aconcagua, by several very
careful observations, to be 1° 55ʹ 45ʺ, the distance from this station
to the Peak being 88·74 geographical miles. From a discussion of all
these data, the compiler of this table has deduced for the height of
Aconcagua 23,910 feet above the sea.

Transcriber’s Note

This book uses inconsistent spelling and hyphenation, which were retained in the ebook version. Some corrections have been made to the text, including normalizing punctuation and capitilization, replacing ditto marks with the text they represent, and correcting the spelling of Index entries to match the spelling in the main text. Where incorrect page number references were found in the Index, these were corrected. Several instances of Antartic or antartic were changed to Antarctic or antarctic. Further corrections are noted below:

p. 8: Maratime Chain -> Maritime Chain p. 15: William Herschell -> William Herschel Footnote 7: earth’s equaor -> earth’s equator Footnote 7: The inequalties -> The inequalities Footnote 7: Connection of Physical Sciences -> Connection of the Physical Sciences p. 23: from the strata were they abound -> from the strata where they abound p. 26: mosily of extinct genera -> mostly of extinct genera p. 29: horizonial position -> horizontal position Footnote 9: mark the boundery -> mark the boundary p. 32: specificially the same -> specifically the same p. 38: perpetural fire -> perpetual fire p. 45: Immediately counected -> Immediately connected p. 47: mountains of this foam -> mountains of this form p. 51: The chains terminates -> The chains terminates p. 52: have been permament -> have been permanent p. 52: tranverse valleys -> transverse valleys p. 53: in the giaciers of the Andes -> in the glaciers of the Andes p. 62: Hindo Coosh -> Hindoo Coosh p. 66: that rocks and pillars rises -> that rocks and pillars rise p. 69: wondering Kirghi -> wandering Kirghi p. 73: greographical miles -> geographical miles p. 77: remains of animals that no longer exists -> remains of animals that no longer exist p. 80: most nothern part -> most northern part p. 88: sinks abrubtly -> sinks abruptly p. 89: tops of the monntains -> tops of the mountains p. 92: suceptible of cultivation -> susceptible of cultivation p. 93: are connnected by -> are connected by p. 99: once equal to Chimboroza in height -> once equal to Chimborazo in height p. 104: which is situate -> which is situated p. 120: thoughout its length -> throughout its length p. 121: Mexico and it lake -> Mexico and its lake p. 123: Culf of California -> Gulf of California p. 127: the forests consists of -> the forests consist of p. 131: a considerable intervals -> a considerable interval p. 132: over wide area -> over wide areas p. 132: they cccupy a tract -> they occupy a tract p. 136: idea can be formad -> idea can be formed p. 136: Tropic of Capricon -> Tropic of Capricorn p. 136: frem New Holland -> from New Holland p. 140: along the the whole coast -> along the whole coast p. 142: nothern shores -> northern shores p. 143: it seldem rises -> it seldom rises p. 147: of the the crust -> of the crust p. 153: Hot spings -> Hot springs p. 154: fall of the barometer, frogs, and unusual sultriness -> all of the barometer, fogs, and unusual sultriness p. 156: are continned after -> are continued after p. 158: on which they moor their boots -> on which they moor their boats p. 168: of these mettalloids -> of these metalloids Footnote 98: the unforseen result -> the unforeseen result Footnote 99: Suppposing -> Supposing p. 175: Rio de Janeira -> Rio de Janeiro Footnote 112: J. Scott Russel -> J. Scott Russell p. 195: the waves becomes higher -> the waves become higher p. 197: where it not so -> were it not so p. 199: closing quote position assumed ... to summer heat;” p. 206: the Alantic virtually enters -> the Atlantic virtually enters p. 219: the Nile recieves -> the Nile receives p. 226: a greater volumne of water -> a greater volume of water p. 228: covored with snow -> covered with snow p. 234: insersected with rivers -> intersected with rivers p. 242: branches as its mouth -> branches at its mouth p. 251: cannot br crossed -> cannot be crossed p. 267: Carribean islands -> Caribbean islands p. 273: whereas the the cold -> whereas the cold p. 281: only resolve bodies -> only resolves bodies p. 285: polarization of the atmosphese -> polarization of the atmosphere p. 286: positive elctricty increases -> positive electricity increases p. 296: two upheavels makes -> two upheavals makes p. 298: combination witht he oxygen -> combination with the oxygen p. 315: North Amerian -> North American p. 315: which are Amercian -> which are American p. 316: The themometer sometimes rises -> The thermometer sometimes rises p. 322: Rosa indica odoratissima, tumeric, oil of Bixa orellana -> Rosa indica odoratissima, turmeric, oil of Bixa orellana p. 337: crimson blosssom -> crimson blossom p. 344: in the Guatimala forest -> in the Guatemala forest p. 344: logwood, mohogony, and many other -> logwood, mahogony, and many other p. 349: which cones the -> with cones the p. 352: of the cyptogamous kinds -> of the cryptogamous kinds p. 352: aborescent vegetation -> arborescent vegetation p. 358: tranverse incision -> transverse incision p. 362: and alse in vast fields -> and also in vast fields p. 371: their are eight distinct regions -> there are eight distinct regions p. 374: of the mackarel tribe -> of the mackerel tribe p. 383: Emydians or tortoises, and turtle -> Emydians or tortoises, and turtles p. 384: and and form a link -> and form a link p. 386: from Bazil to Carolina -> from Brazil to Carolina p. 390: at an elevavation of -> at an elevation of p. 391: Testuno Græca -> Testudo Græca p. 392: the Indian Arcipelago -> the Indian Archipelago p. 395: More than three-fourth of the species -> More than three fourths of the species p. 395: Aquilla albicilla -> Aquila albicilla p. 396: catching moluscas and small fish -> catching mollusca and small fish p. 399: allied to to the grouse family -> allied to the grouse family p. 401: Oriols of vivid colours -> Orioles of vivid colours p. 407: Straits of Magellen -> Straits of Magellan p. 410: unexplored regions of the inferior -> unexplored regions of the interior p. 413: the restlessness of carniverous animal -> the restlessness of carniverous animals p. 420: also of the Crimera -> also of the Crimea p. 422: which serves as a parchute -> which serves as a parachute p. 425: a new speeies of -> a new species of p. 427: known as the prarie-dog -> known as the prairie dog p. 434: a characteristeric of many -> a characteristic of many Footnote 186: wombats bnrrow -> wombats burrow p. 452: are absoutely without grass -> are absolutely without grass p. 457: knowlege is power -> knowledge is power p. 457: ides are disseminated -> ideas are disseminated p. 458: stationary or retrogade -> stationary or retrograde p. 466: ancient Ninevah -> ancient Nineveh p. 472: years that preceeded -> years taht preceded p. 473: particlar and extraordinary -> particular and extraordinary Footnote 208: Annuaire du Bureau des Laugitutdes -> Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes p. 500: opposums and other marsupial -> opossums and other marsupial p. 506: soluble in alchol -> soluble in alcohol p. 507: The anniseed tree -> The aniseed tree p. 508: Synonyne of Pandanus -> Synonym of Pandanus p. 518: Erom the Gr. -> From the Gr. p. 519: Fram the Gr. -> From the Gr. p. 520: a genu of mollusks -> a genus of mollusks p. 520: Smybne´nsis -> Smyrne´nsis p. 524: Grom the Gr. -> From the Gr.